1.) Small Businesses vs Big Corporations

Question: How are small local busninesses being affected by big corporations like Walmart? What struggles do small businesses go through to compete against other larger corporations?

2.) Minority Communities in NYC

Question: How do these groups (people of color) learn to assimilate and keep their cultural components simultaneously?

3.) Native Americans and reservation inequality

Question: How do their scarce resources and land affect their way of living? How do they maintain their culture going despite their struggles of poverty?

In Pretty Woman, Vivian Ward, who is a former prostitute, becomes an escort for a welathy, busniness man named Edward Lewis. In this specific scene, Vivian starts engaging into Edward’s elite world by going shopping around Beverly Hills. However, during her shopping, she encounters women who approach her in a rude way;throwing subliminal messages about her revealing outfit. They mention that the clothes sold there are not  appropaite for her and that they are too expensive for her tatse. Because she lives a life where her only occupation is based on prostituion, she is unaware of this new culture of elitism and therefore, feels disrespected. In fact, in this scene there is a sense of elegance that Vivian does not portray, like the way she speaks in contrast to the workers: “ya got nice stuff.” She also sees the differences by stating that she is looking for more conservative things, which is also contrast to her current style she wears. Throughout the movie she learns how to confrom to the “fancy” standards and become more “formal”, but along the way she faces challenges and insults like the women in this scene.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/nyregion/cuomos-1-4-billion-plan-in-brooklyn-stirs-fears-of-gentrification.html?_r=0

While reading this article, I realized that this subject of ‘gentrification’, has played a huge role into the theme of displacement. Governor Cuomo plans to fund $1.4 million towards healthcare services and job opportunites in central Brookyln. However, many residents fear that gentrification might occur because of the more healthier resources and jobs.  As many New Yorkers have known, Brooklyn has become the place of gentrification and as a result, many Blacks and Latinos have been forced to move out of the area. More importantly, the culture itself of the “hood”, dies. Looking at the issue more carefully, racism factors into this topic repeatedly. In the article, a resident states “If you want to make it better for the community, why 2017? The community has been the way it has been since the ’70s,” implying that, for years, Brownsville has been ignored and now that gentrifcation is booming, all of a sudden Brooklyn became the place for development. A majority of balcks and latinos mostly reside in this area and because rents will soon rise, due to the housing development, many of them will be forced to move: “But where’s everybody else going to go? Down south? Where are we going to go?” Whenever a large population of minorities are being undermined, especially in this case with the rent issue, their only other option is to move somewhere else where their socioeconomic status benefits them.

SARAH MASLIN NIR, “Cuomo’s $1.4 Billion Plan for Brooklyn Stirs Fears Of Gentrification” NYTimes.com 

I remeber losing a piece of my identity when I entered High School. I went to a school where the majority of the student population were primarily Caucasian, and as a result, I automatically felt out of place. Growing up in East Brooklyn, I was always used to a diverse school setting where I had people of color from different backgrounds (Hispanic and Black). It was always a nice, home feeling being in such a diverse school, because there were students who, like me, were first American generation. However, going into high school, I lost that home feeling and entered a new setting of uncertainty. I remember having to assimilate into this new setting by becoming “white” myself, and having to learn their ways. Learning their ways meant having a proper valley girl accent, wearing their “hipster, bohemian” clothing, and even understanding their white privilege background. I knew they always had it easier than us, never worrying about their lack of resources, or their financial, social status, but knowing the way this society is built, we’ll never have a privilege of our own. In brief, looking back, I wish I had never assimilated because I essentially left behind the “diverse” me thinking that it wasn’t good enough. I realized later during my senior year, that I never had to change who I was because everyone benefits from hearing cultural differences. Above all, valuing the different background ethnicities is the key to learning new things about people and understanding where they come from is way more important than assimilating into just one thing. My home feeling of diversity was never gone, I just simply had forgotten its importance.

The event, tought by Professor Abby Anderton, was a hands-on experience on how to play the blues on a piano. Personally, I had a really good time learning some fundamentals of piano playing since I don’t really have the time to do so myself. Professor Anderton showed us how to coordinate our hand and fingers on the piano so that we could have a more fluent “touch”. Watching her I realized that having the piano “touch” requires a lot of time, patience, and skills. She made playing the piano seem so easy and finally when I got the chance to play the notes on the sheet music, I could really feel the excitement people have playing an insturment. Even more so, the theme of our music genre was the blues so the music itself was really exciting. It was interesting to see how the blues has its own rhythm and culture. For instance, when she played the “12 bar blues song” one could definietely tell that it has an old, southern feel to it. This specific song, is called a 12 bar blue song because it is the foundation of all blues music. Artists use the 12 music bars to conduct a 4/4 time signature, and in this way, it is easier to play and distinguish the first (I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) note.

Ironically, I took a music class last semster and did not enjoy it at all, mostly becuase I had no idea how to play or talk music. Professor Anderton actually teaches a music course called, “Music in Western Civivlization” at Baruch, and through her methods I was finally able to understand more clearly what a chord was, or what a note was. Most importantly, I was finally able to hear the many different sounds that each term meant like a “12 bar”. What was also interesting was how Professor Anderton showed us that the piano itself can be another instrument simultaneously, like a harp (by plucking the strings behind the keys). It made me realize that an instrument is not only a single playing tool, but that through creativity, it could also be something else. I belive that’s something very important to think about, especially as a musician.

1.) How do the contrasting characterizations of Dina and Heidi reflect Packer’s of idea of being different, especially for those who are already marginalized.

2.) How does Dina’s narration expose the struggles of African American culture

3.) How does the title,”Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” connect with the many different coping mechanisms Dina goes through?